J-1 visa

A J-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa issued by the United States to research scholars, professors and exchange visitors participating in programs that promote cultural exchange, especially to obtain medical or business training within the U.S. All applicants must meet eligibility criteria, English language requirements, and be sponsored either by a university, private sector or government program. J-1 visa holders must usually return home for two years following visa expiration so they impart cultural knowledge learned in the United States. In 2022, the State Department issued 284,486 J-1 visas, with a visa approval rate of 88.8%. Between 2001 and 2021, there were 6,178,355 J-1 visas issued by the State Department. In 2023, there were 4,209 J-1 visa sponsors. Certain J-1 categories saw increased percentage increase in visas between 2021 and 2022. For example, The J-1 Visa for Summer Work/Travel increased 134% from 39,647 to 92,619. J-1 Teachers increased 467% from 719 to 4,076. Interns increased 212% from 5,402 to 16,833.

J-1 categories

Different categories exist within the J-1 program, each defining the purpose or type of exchange. While most J-1 categories are explicitly named in the federal regulations governing the J-1 program, others have been inferred from the regulatory language.

J-1 category	Length of stay	Sponsors	2022 numbers
Student, secondary school	One to two academic semesters	70	18,921
Au pair	Twelve months	14	21,449
Camp counselor	Four months	26	21,810
Intern	Three weeks to one year	96	16,833
Summer Work/Travel	Four months	37	92,619
Teacher	Three years	67	4,076
Alien physician	Seven years	1	3,302
Trainee	Three weeks to eighteen months	93	10,612
College student	Duration of study	816	36,532
Professor	Three weeks to five years	280	1659
Research scholar	Three weeks to five years	868	24,331
Short-term scholar	Six months	847	12,452
Specialist	Three weeks to one year	435	1,802
Government visitor		29	2,786
International visitor		18	4,599

Visa requirements

Category requirement

An international visitor must be picked by the State Department and be a recognized leader in a special field.
Camp counselors must be at least 18 years old, speak English, and be "either a foreign post-secondary student, youth worker, teacher or individual with specialized skills."
Au pairs provide childcare to American families. They must be between the age of 18 and 26, speak proficient English, pass a background check, and have secondary school education level or above.
A research scholar is a foreign citizen in the U.S. to conduct research. These scholars are allowed to teach and lecture.
A professor is for a foreign citizen here to teach, lecture, or consult at a college or university. These professors cannot be a tenure-track candidate or have completed a professor program within two years of the new job start.
Summer work travel visitors must be a post-secondary college student who completed one semester of academic study, speak proficient English, and have a summer job.
An intern must have graduated from a post-secondary college or university a year before the J-1 visa start date. Additionally, these interns cannot work in childcare, elder care, or health care. They cannot be in unskilled labor jobs or work in jobs requiring more than 20% of the work to be clerical or office support.
Visa process

For potential J-1 visa applicants, the first step is to locate and contact a designated sponsor. The State Department provides the list of designated sponsors.

Visa interview

Most visa applicants are required to interview with the U.S embassy or consulate. If the applicant is younger than 13 or is older than 80, an interview is "generally not required".
These are the documents required for someone's J-1 visa interview.

The Certificate of Eligibility issued by the sponsor of the program
Supporting documents which are country specific and the consulate website will have details
A valid passport, that does not expire within the next six months
The I-901 SEVIS Fee
Form DS-160 completed online – this is the non-immigrant visa application
Fee receipt confirming payment of the visa application fee of $160
A recent color 2"×2" photograph, in the specified format.
Reporting

J-1 visa sponsors are required to monitor the progress and welfare of their participants. The J-1 visa sponsors should ensure that the participants' activities are consistent with the program category identified on the participants' Form DS-2019. Sponsors are also to require their participants to provide current contact information and to maintain this information in their files.
All exchange visitor applicants must have a SEVIS-generated DS-2019 issued by a DOS designated sponsor, which they submit when they are applying for their exchange visitor visa. The consular officer verifies the DS-2019 record electronically through the SEVIS system in order to process your exchange visitor visa application to conclusion. Unless otherwise exempt, exchange visitor applicants must pay a SEVIS I-901 Fee to DHS for each individual program.
Electronic records on J-1 visitors and their dependents are maintained in Student and Exchange Visitor Information System of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program by their program sponsor. J-1 visitors must report certain information, such as a change in legal name or a change of address, within 10 days. Failure is considered a violation of the J-1 visitor's immigration status and may result in the termination of the visitor's exchange program.

Taxation

Taxation of income earned by J-1 visitors varies according to the specific category the visitor was admitted under; the visitor's country of origin; and the duration of the visitor's stay in the United States. J-1 visa holders are exempt from paying Federal Insurance Contributions Act taxes when they are nonresident aliens for tax purposes, which is usually the first five calendar years if they are categorized as students, or the first two calendar years if they are categorized as teachers or trainees. However, they are subjected to other applicable federal, state, and local taxes. People on J-1 filing their federal income taxes who have been in the United States for five years or fewer or two years or fewer need to use the non-resident 1040-NR tax forms. Some J-1 visa holders may be eligible for certain tax treaty provisions based on their country of origin.
Employers who hire J-1 visitors may also save on payroll taxes. J-1 visitors do not pay Social Security, Medicare or Federal Unemployment taxes, employers do not have to match these taxes. A typical employer who hires 5 Work/Travel J-1 visitors and pays $8/hour each may save over $2317 in a typical 4-months season.

Mandatory home residence

Many persons in the United States on J-1 visa are subject to the two-year home residency requirement found in Section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Under the Section 212, before a person on a J-1 visa with the two-year home residency requirement can obtain H, K, or L visas, obtain U.S. permanent resident status, or change nonimmigrant status inside the US, the J-1 person must either return to the country of last residence for two years or obtain a waiver of the two-year home residency requirement.
Upon their departure from the United States, many J-1 visa holders are required to complete a mandatory two-year home-country physical presence prior to re-entry into the United States under dual intent visas, such as H-1B. This applies for those whose exchange program was funded by either their government or the U.S. government, involves specialized knowledge or skills deemed necessary by their home country or if they received graduate medical training. The two-year stay can be served in several intervals. This mandatory two-year home-country stay can be waived under the following conditions:

No objection statement issued by the government of the home country of the J visa holders.
Exceptional hardship: If a J-1 holder can demonstrate that his or her departure would cause exceptional hardship to his U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident dependents.
Persecution: If a J-1 holder can demonstrate that he or she can be persecuted in his home country.
Interested government agency: A waiver issued for a J-1 holder by a U.S. Federal Government agency that has determined that such person is working on a project for or of its interest and the person's departure will be detrimental to its interest.
Conrad program: A waiver issued for a foreign medical graduate who has an offer of full-time employment at a health care facility in a designated health care professional shortage area or at a health care facility which serves patients from such a designated area.

For the No Objection Statement J-1 waiver, the exchange visitor's home country government should issue a No Objection Statement through its embassy in Washington, DC directly to the Waiver Review Division that it has no objection to the exchange visitor not returning to the home country to satisfy the INA 212 two-year foreign residence requirement, and does not object to the possibility of the exchange visitor becoming a resident of the United States.